William Beach

William Beach holds two titles at Heritage. He is the John M. Olin Senior Fellow in Economics and director of the Center for Data Analysis (CDA). As CDA Director, Beach oversees Heritage’s original statistical research on Social Security, crime, education, trade and a host of other issues, ensuring it is both rigorous in its technical scholarship and produced in time to help inform the public debate over the issue. Under Beach’s direction, the CDA has progressed to the point that it today competes as an equal with the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, the Joint Committee on Taxation, or any other government agency when it comes to “scoring” potential costs and benefits of legislation. Later, as an economist for Missouri’s Office of Budget and Planning, he designed and managed the state’s econometric model and advised the governor on revenue and economic issues. After a stint in the corporate headquarters of Sprint United, Inc., Beach moved to the Washington, D.C., area to serve as president of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. A graduate of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, Beach also holds a master’s degree in history and economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.